I don’t think it’s being overly cynical to say that the reinstatement of Greensboro police officer A.J. Blake has a really, really bad smell.
Remember Blake was suspended after being accused of assaulting two females after a night of heavy drinking at the Greensboro Police Club. He was initially convicted of assault, but he appealed and the conviction was overturned in Superior Court back in July. But in the meantime Blake was recommended for dismissal by a police administrative board, a ruling that was upheld by Chief Tim Bellamy.
The announcement that interim City Manager Bob Morgan reinstated Blake was the classic Friday afternoon news dump designed to minimize reaction from citizens anticipating the weekend. We also know that Morgan is shortly making way for new City Manager Rashad Young, so he won’t have to take the political heat as the city’s head honcho. Kind of a small-time presidential pardon, if you will.
Something else that’s very interesting: I could swear I saw a quote from Blake in yesterday’s N&R online version saying he wouldn’t be rejoining the gang unit because he probably would face more harassment from fellow officers than the gangs themselves. An interesting perspective from a police officer who’s lucky to have a job, I thought to myself.
But the N&R —city government’s media partner —– appears to have deleted that quote from both today’s print edition and updated online versions. Evidently they have some sort of interest in helping Blake ease back into his duties as a public servant.
Update: Commenter Brandon over at Roch 101 said he read the same quote, adding it’s “sad when free papers in Greensboro are more reliable than the one you have to pay for. It’s straight up Orwellian.”
Update 2: Roch has the deleted quote, with help from Jerry Bledsoe.
